


There for You

by libgalww (daytonamom)



Category: Third Watch
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 16:03:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3902335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daytonamom/pseuds/libgalww
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While trying to serve a warrant, Bosco and Faith become involved in a situation that quickly gets out of hand</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Fanfiction.net in January 2002

Faith reached into her locker and removed her belt just as Bosco came flying in the door. He looked disheveled and a little winded. Bosco barely glanced at her as he flung his locker open and grabbed his vest and uniform. Faith fastened the belt and bent to retrieve her hat and jacket from the bench in front of her. Bosco finally broke the silence.

"I can't believe I over-slept," he grumbled. He yanked his vest over his head, slapped the Velcro fasteners quickly, and pulled his uniform shirt on. "It really wasn't my fault, though."

Faith waited for him to finish getting dressed and continue with his explanation. This was a ritual for them every Monday. Her partner would rush in at the last second and try to get ready while complaining about whatever had happened to him the night before. Usually these discussions would eventually turn to some woman that he had met the night before.

"I was at this bar last night." Bosco stood from the bench and glanced at her. She was giving him her usual disapproving motherly look. "Faith, don't give me that look, I didn't get drunk. And besides you're not my mother."

Faith rolled her eyes at him. "I thank the good Lord every day for that, Bosco, really I do."

Bosco grunted and turned to her. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story of not?"

Faith turned and walked out of the locker room. She answered him over her shoulder. "Not."

Bosco and Faith entered roll call just as Sergeant Christopher entered from the other door. He glared at them as they took seats behind Sully and Davis.

"Okay, settle down everyone. First on the list today is a heads up about a string of robberies. In the last two days, there have been ten reported robberies in sector three and four. So keep your eyes open people.

Now, its warrant time of month again. Special squads went out this morning and rounded up some outstanding warrants. I was given a few minor ones that they didn't have time to go look for.

"Christopher paused and looked down at the officers sitting in front of him. He enjoyed assigning teams to handle warrants probably because no one enjoyed going after people with warrants. Half of the time it was a wild goose chase, and when you did happen to find some poor person with an outstanding warrant at home he usually bolted and you lost him anyway.

"So Bosco, Yokas, Sullivan and Davis pick up the file before you leave."

Great, not only did she have to worry about the long day in front of her; she was going to have to endure Bosco's whining. She looked over at her partner and tried not to laugh. He looked angry. She could just imagine the thoughts that were going through his head. Of course, she really wouldn't have to wait too long to hear them; she was certain that the moment they got to their squad she would be treated to every one of them. Some of them she would be subjected to repeatedly.

The briefing ended a few minutes later and Faith got up to get the folder from Christopher. He gave her an annoying grin, handed it over, turned, and left the room. When Faith turned, she was looking at two pairs of angry eyes. Bosco and Davis were both seething.

"I can't believe he did that to us again," Bosco said angrily.

"Maybe if you showed up on time he would pick on someone else," she said to him.

Bosco just glared at her, got up, and headed for the door.  
  
"That really doesn't explain why he keeps handing these assignments to us, too," Ty growled as he stood and followed Bosco out of the room.  
  
Faith could hear Bosco in the hallway, "Oh come on, Davis you didn't get that last…"  
  
Sully stood and shot Faith an amused look and grinned as he began to sing, "What a wonderful day in the neighborhood…"  
  
Faith burst out laughing as she followed Sully to their waiting squads.

 

* * *

 

The afternoon had gone just as Faith had expected it to. Bosco had complained. They tried to serve three warrants with no luck. Bosco had complained. They had been lucky enough to get one guy at home while he was asleep.

Faith was completing the paperwork and listening to Bosco go on about the woman he had met last night.

Apparently, this one hadn't swooned over the Boscorelli charm. She didn't know which was worse: hearing him complaining about their assignment today, or listening to him go on and on about Beth something-or-other.

They were sitting outside the apartment of Ethan Hobbs, who was wanted for probation violations when

Sully radioed to inform them that he and Davis were sick of trying to serve their half of the warrants and were going to stop for lunch. Faith was hungry, too. She was sure Bosco wouldn't mind coming back to see if Hobbs was home after they ate.

"Come on, Boz Let's go eat," she interrupted his current tirade as she closed the clipboard and threw it on the dash.

He twisted a little in his seat to look at her. "Eat?"

"Yeah, you know, food? I'm hungry."

"What about Hobbs?" he asked as he waved a hand toward the apartment building. "I don't want to have to come all the way back over here. Let's just do this and then go."

Bosco grabbed the handle and pushed himself out of the car. Faith nodded at his back. Sure, why not?

At least they would only have one more warrant after Hobbs and then they would be able to forget about them for awhile.

Hobbs' apartment was 301. When they stepped inside the small lobby, they noticed an 'out of order' sign on the elevator. Bosco shook his head and turned to the stairs. As they were climbing the stairs, Bosco called into dispatch and reported that they were going to serve the warrant. Then he glanced at her.

"That girl last night told me I had some underlying anger issues, do you believe that?" He rolled his eyes.

Faith couldn't help the snort that followed his comment. He turned and glared at her. She covered the smile on her face with her hand and tried to control the sudden need to snicker again. Bosco turned away from her display and continued up the stairs.

"I really wasn't aware that your anger issues were that underlying, Bosco," she said to his back.

"Funny, Faith. Very funny. Why do I put up with you?"

"I'm just along to keep you on your toes."

Faith heard him mumble something under his breath as he reached the top of the stairs. She grinned at him as he pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway. Faith followed him down the hallway until they were standing in front of apartment 301.

"She said I needed to practice self restraint," he said as he knocked on the door.

"Sounds like a smart woman, what did you tell her?"

He opened his mouth to answer her then shook his head. "You really don't want to know." He pounded on the door a little louder.

Faith was sure she probably didn't want to know; though she knew Bosco and really didn't have any trouble imagining what he told her. She was about to tell him how incredibly stupid she thought he was when they heard the door in front of them open.

A dark headed pre-teen stood in the doorway. He gave both of them a dirty look.

"What do you want?"

"Police, we're looking for Ethan Hobbs."

"He ain't here."

"Do you mind if we take a look?" Faith asked him.

"Yeah."

The boy tried to close the door when they heard a loud crash inside the apartment; then he tried to slam the door on them but Bosco shoved it forward and pushed the boy aside. Faith could see a man running toward the back of the apartment. Bosco took off after him shouting, "Police!"  
  
Faith drew her gun and followed her partner toward the back of the apartment. There were two doors side-by-side; Hobbs ran into the one on the right with Bosco right behind. Faith jogged quickly behind and glanced into the other room; they looked like they were joined bedrooms. She entered the room after Bosco. He had his gun drawn and was kicking at a small door.

"Go around, go around!" he yelled at her.

Faith turned and exited the room. She ran into the other room. She saw a tall, dark-haired man turning from the inside door and reaching for the back window. He saw her and looked away. He looked like he was trying to decide if he could make it to the window in time. Faith wasn't going to give him the chance.

"Police! Freeze!"  
  
The man froze. Faith could hear Bosco pounding on the door. The man flinched and then turned on her.

She saw the gun in his hand a second too late.

She didn't have time to get out of the way. She felt the slam of the bullet and sudden heat in her shoulder before she actually heard the shot. The force sent her tipping backwards; she lost her footing and fell back. She hit the wall behind her and felt herself slide down the wall. The last thing she heard as she felt blackness claim her was Bosco's strangled cry.

"Faith!"

* * *

 

 

Faith heard his voice.

"Faith! Talk to me, Faith."  
  
It sounded muffled, like he was under water. She wondered briefly what he was doing under water. She knew that didn't make sense, but that was the first thing that went through her mind. The second thing that registered was pain. Her shoulder was on fire. She tried not to think about the pain that was shooting down her right arm; instead, she made herself focus on Bosco's voice. He sounded scared. That wasn't right; Bosco didn't get scared. Angry, frustrated, and disgusted, but Maurice Boscorelli didn't get scared.

Faith slowly opened her eyes; she was pulled more by the sound of his voice than her desire to actually open her eyes. But, he needed her, so she had to do it.

She saw Bosco on the other side of the room. He was holding his gun on the dark-haired man that had shot her. The man's gun was now pointing at Bosco. He was staring at the man before him but unfortunately, his focus was more on her than the man in front of him.

She had to let him know she was okay.

"Bosco."

It came out a lot softer than she would have liked but she saw his shoulders relax a little. She knew he had heard her.  
  
"Put the gun down," he ordered the man.  
  
"No way, I'm not going back to jail. They will kill me if I go back."

"Listen, Hobbs, this can only get worse. You need to put the damn gun down."

Bosco seemed calm. She could hear a little hitch in his voice, though.  
  
She had to help him. Faith tried to pull her legs up so she could get her feet underneath her, but without the use of her arm she couldn't get the leverage she needed to push herself up.

Hobbs glanced at her then back at Bosco. She watched as he slowly lowered the gun. Bosco reached out his hand to take it from him.

The thought of calling for help suddenly occurred to her. She reached up toward the radio at her shoulder to call for help when she felt it ripped from her shirt. She jerked her head toward the movement and saw the kid standing next to her with her radio in his hand.  
  
"You can't take my dad. I won't let you," he snarled at her.  
  
Faith saw the anger in his eyes and knew that this kid was just as dangerous as his father was.

Before she could yell a warning to Bosco, the kid was pass her and running straight at her partner.

The kid ran right into Bosco. The full weight of the kid sent Bosco falling forward into Hobbs. Hobbs pushed away from him and tried to scramble backwards away from the two falling figures. His gun went sliding across the room. Bosco went down hard with the kid on top of him. Faith could see them struggling for his gun. The kid had a slight advantage because Bosco hadn't been prepared for the impact. They rolled over together and Bosco used his weight and size to pin the kid against the wall.

Faith forgot about the pain in her shoulder and pushed herself up. She pulled her gun and stumbled toward the pair. Hobbs however had regained his balance and grabbed Bosco by the shoulders; she saw something in his hand flash. Hobbs was taller than Bosco was and he easily yanked him off his son. Faith raised her gun at pointed at Hobbs. Hobbs pulled Bosco in between himself and her. He had one arm tightly around Bosco's neck the other was somewhere behind Bosco's back.

Bosco's eyes were bulging from the lack of air but he managed to snarl. "Shoot him!"  
  
Was he crazy? Her shoulder was on fire and the room was tilting just a little. There was no way that she was going to fire on her partner. You never fired on your partner. Besides, she couldn't be sure that in her current state she would even be able to miss Bosco and hit Hobbs. She couldn't take the chance. She *wouldn't* take the chance.

The son staggered to his feet near the connecting door and turned toward Faith. Now she was outnumbered and they knew it.  
  
"I told you I'm not going back to jail. Put that gun down or I'm going to snap his neck."  
  
Faith's ne

rves wavered and her gun shook slightly.  
  
"Don't do it," Bosco grunted.

Faith looked into his eyes. She saw fear but she also saw anger. She wasn't sure whom the anger was focused at. She hoped he wasn't mad at her. She prayed he wouldn't be mad at her. Her only choice was to lower her gun; she had to--she wouldn't watch Bosco die.  
  
The son took a step toward her and Bosco made his move. He tried to twist down and away from Hobbs.

Hobbs released his hold on Bosco's neck but he made a swift movement with his other arm. Faith saw Bosco freeze for a second, he gasped and his eyes slammed shut. The son was now next to Faith and he grabbed at her gun. He was able to easily twist it from her grasp and push her backwards. Faith landed on her side, looking up at Hobbs and Bosco.  
  
Hobbs had a smile on his face. Suddenly Bosco's knees buckled and he fell to the ground in front of her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

"Bosco!" she shouted.

Faith looked up at Hobbs and saw a knife clutched in his hand. Faith could see that its tip was red. He grinned down at her and took a step toward her. Then Faith heard the wonderful sound of sirens from outside the building. Help was coming.

Hobbs heard it too. He turned to look out the bedroom window then quickly swung back around. He shoved his son toward the door.

"Jim, go lock the front door."

"No!" Faith heard herself call out.

Hobbs ignored her and stepped over Bosco toward her. He grabbed her roughly by the collar of her jacket and hauled her to her feet. He spun her around and dropped her near the wall. She landed roughly on her injured arm; bright flashes of light exploded behind her eyes and she cried out with pain.

"Stay put!" he told her. He stepped toward the door and shouted out to Jim. "Did you lock that door? I can't see where they are from the back window."

Thankfully, Hobbs had dropped her a few feet from Bosco. She grimaced slightly at the new pain making her arm throb. Faith used a chair near her to push herself over onto her stomach and crawl closer to Bosco.

Bosco was laying on his side with his eyes tightly shut.

"Bosco?" she whispered.

Bosco opened his eyes and looked at her. He looked like he didn't recognize her for a minute. She could see the pain in his eyes. He gasped and swallowed hard. "Faith, are you okay?"

She couldn't help but smile. How could that be the first question on his mind?

"I should ask you the same thing, partner. Hobbs stabbed you. How do you feel?"

She was trying to inch closer to him but her legs were starting to fail her, it was taking too much energy to crawl across the small space.

"I'm okay. I don't think it was too bad. It doesn't hurt too much now."

He was lying. She knew he was lying. He knew he was lying. His face was pale and he had begun to sweat. She had to do something and quick. Then she heard pounding on the front door.

"Police! Open up!" she heard Sully shout then he pounded again.

Faith had never been happier to hear anything in her life. She looked over at Bosco he was trying to lift himself off the floor.

"Bosco, what are you doing?" She hissed at him.

"We can't just lay here, Faith. I'm okay I gotta do something." His voice was weak and sweat was starting to bead on his forehead but he was slowly pushing himself to a sitting position against a dresser. Maybe she had been wrong; maybe he really hadn't been injured too badly.

Sully was banging on the door again. "Police! Open the door."

Hobbs returned to the room pulling his son behind him. He turned back toward Bosco and Faith and sneered. Bosco was now sitting up. Hobbs crossed the room and knelt down in front of Bosco.

"Why did you have to come here? I can't go back to jail."

"You don't have a choice. Why don't you stop this now before it gets worse?" Bosco told him.

Hobbs looked at him for a second, and then he turned and looked at Faith. He looked scared now. Maybe he had just realized how bad this situation was. For a second he looked confused then she saw his eyes harden. Hobbs had just made his choice.

"What do I need with choices when I have two cops?" he spat. Then he pulled back his arm and viciously punched Bosco in the face. The impact sent his head flying back into the dresser.

"Agh.." Blood poured from Bosco's nose.

Sully pounded again on the door. "Police!"

The pounding became harder. Sully was now using his weight to break down the door. It wouldn't be long before the old door would give and he would be inside.

"No one knows that we have them, they have to let us go if we have cops. Right?" Jim asked his Dad.

Hobbs ignored him and then ran to the far wall and picked up Bosco's gun. He gave the knife he was still holding to Jim then turned and went to the door of the bedroom.

"Hey, Cop!" he shouted outside to Sully.

The assault on the door stopped.

Hobbs waited a beat then yelled again. "I have hostages. I want you to get out of here!"

"My name is Officer Sullivan. What did you just say about hostages? I didn't hear you."

Faith knew Sully had heard every word. She knew that Davis was on the radio calling for back up and Sully was just trying to stall. They probably had a good idea who was in here with them. After all, their squad was parked right out front and Bosco had called in. Faith heard Bosco's radio crack. Her eyes flew to Bosco's eyes. He didn't know what to do. For once, she could see that he didn't have any clue. He grabbed at his radio but the kid was quicker. Jim grabbed his radio, ripped it from him, and then threw it across the room. Faith watched their only connection to the world outside skid across the room and shatter against the wall. Hobbs flew across the room and grabbed his son by the arm.

"What did you do that for?" he growled at him.

"He was trying to call for help."

"We could have used that. We could have listened to what they were planning."

"Hello?" Sully shouted through the door.

Hobbs glared at his son then pushed him away. Jim looked scared; he didn't know what to do. Hobbs stepped toward Faith and grabbed her by her good arm. He yanked her up and pulled her toward the door to the bedroom.

"Tell them to leave."

"They can't do that, Hobbs," she tried to tell him.

Hobbs pulled her around until he was just an inch from her face. He was breathing heavy and his eyes were like steel.

"Tell them," he said through gritted teeth.

He pushed her a little closer to the bedroom door and then pushed the gun into her back. Faith took a deep breath.

"Sully, its Faith."

"Faith? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, Sully we're good."

Hobbs leaned into her and muttered into her ear. "Tell them I want to walk out of here. Tell them I'm not going to jail."

"Sully, they want a ride out of here. Mr. Hobbs doesn't want jail time."

Sully was silent for a second then.

"Mr. Hobbs. I'm going to try and do anything you want. But you have to let the officers go."

"No way! You don't let me leave I'm going to kill one of them!" Hobbs yelled at the closed door.

He turned and shoved Faith back into the room. She landed hard on her side. She looked up into Bosco's eyes and saw something she never liked to see in Bosco's eyes. He had a plan.

 

* * *

 

 

Bosco held her eyes for a second, then looked away. He searched the room for something then returned his gaze to her. Faith used her good arm to pull herself the foot or so between herself and Bosco.

His nose had stopped bleeding but he still had beads of sweat on his forehead. When she was close enough to him, she reached out and touched his hand. Faith was alarmed to feel his hand was cool to the touch.

"Bosco?"

He smiled at her. "I think I can get Jim to help us out of this. I've got to do something to get us out of here."

"Bosco, Sully is here. Just stay put, don't be a hero."  
  
He smiled at her and licked his lips. "I'm your partner Faith; I'm not going to let him hurt you."  
  
Faith chuckled. Why did that seem so funny? She rested her head on the floor for a second, then raised her head again to look in his eyes. "I think you're a little too late for that."

Bosco grunted, nodded his head and gave her a sad smile.  
  
Faith wanted to tell him to just relax; help would be coming soon. However, Bosco had plans of his own and they did not include being a bystander in this whole disaster. Faith pulled herself up beside Bosco and let her head fall back to rest on the dresser behind her. Her arm no longer hurt but throbbed. Was that a good sign? S he wasn't sure. She looked down at her shoulder and was surprised to see the amount of blood that was soaking her uniform sleeve and upper chest.

"When I tell you to, yell for Sully," Bosco whispered to her. "Hey, kid!" Bosco called.  
  
Jim turned from his father to look at them. He looked a lot younger than he had ten minutes ago. "What?"  
  
"Come here."

Jim looked uncertain. He turned his head and glanced at his dad. Hobbs had moved into the small living room and was now pacing the length before the door. He was mumbling something about someone killing him.  
  
Hobbs stopped and yelled at the door. "I'm going to kill the woman if you don't let me outta here. Did you hear me?"  
  
"Mr. Hobbs, please I need for you to calm down. I'm working on a car, okay?" Sully yelled through the door.

Hobbs went back to pacing. He was ignoring the trio in the other room.

Jim turned back to look at Bosco. He took one step toward Bosco and stopped. "My dad can't go back to jail. They almost killed him in there."  
  
Faith looked up at Jim. He looked different to her now. Gone was the kid that had screamed at her and attacked Bosco. In front of her stood a scared kid that was in way over his head.  


"Jim, you have to help us," she told him softly.  
  
"I can't, he would..."

Jim stopped whatever he was about to say and glanced back over his shoulder at his Father.   


"Jim, come here," Bosco called him quietly. His voice was low and the tone came out more like a command.

Jim was moving again probably before he thought about what he was doing. Jim stepped over Faith and leaned down in front of Bosco.  
  
Faith saw the small twitch in Bosco's jaw and she knew what was coming.  
  
Bosco grabbed Jim's shirt so fast that it surprised the kid. Bosco yanked him down with surprising force.

Jim lost his balance and tripped into Bosco. Bosco had a grip on Jim's upper arm with one hand and twisted the knife out of Jim's hand with the other.  
  
Faith kicked at his legs. Jim went down hard. Bosco rolled over on top of him and pressed the blade of the knife against Jim's throat.  
  
"Now, Faith, now!" he grunted.

Faith turned toward the door. Hobbs had heard the noise and was charging from the other room. He was already almost on top of them. "Sully, get in here now!"

Then Hobbs was on top of them. Faith tried to kick him, but he bent down and grabbed her by the hair. He yanked her up and then threw her across the room like she weighed nothing. She landed a few feet away next to the bed on her stomach.   


She couldn't breathe and she saw gray shadows creeping around the edges of her vision. She heard the struggle behind her and forced herself to blink away the pain that now ran down not just her arm, but down her right side too.

That's when she saw the glint of Bosco's gun under the bed. Faith reached for the gun and grabbed the cool metal. She forced herself to ignore the pain in her body and roll over so she was facing the struggle behind her.   


Faith saw two things at almost the same second. The first was Sully breaking through the door in the far room and stumbling toward them. The second thing was Hobbs; he had wrestled the knife from Bosco's hand and was swinging the gun down towards Bosco's head.

Faith pulled the trigger.  
  
The gun connected with the side of Bosco's head just as the bullet Faith fired slammed into Hobbs' chest.

Hobbs jerked back and fell to the floor.  
  
Every bit of energy Faith had evaporated from her body. The gun dropped from her hand, her head became too heavy to hold up, and she dropped it to the floor. Her mind raced. Bosco!

Faith forced her head up and watched Sully roll Hobbs off Bosco. Davis bent down and grabbed Jim; he forced him to his feet and pushed him into the wall face first. Faith saw Sully feel for a pulse and frown.

Faith's heart dropped.  
  
"Sully?" Faith whispered.  
  
Sully looked up at her. "Faith, how you doing, talk to me?"

Faith realized suddenly that Doc and Kim were jogging into the room. Doc went straight to Bosco and Kim ran to Faith.  
  
Faith felt herself slowing rolled over. She was now resting on her back and looking up at Kim and the ceiling above. Kim smiled down at her as she started to examine her shoulder. "Faith, can you hear me?" Kim called.

"Yeah...Bosco...how's Bosco?"   


  
Kim glanced at Bosco and Doc then returned her concentration to Faith. "Looks like he has a pretty bad cut on his forehead but I really can't..."

Faith's vision began to blur but she grabbed Kim's hand and pulled on it, "Kim, he was stabbed. His back...I don't know how badly."  
  
Kim looked alarmed. She raised her head to look at Doc. "Doc, Faith says Bosco was stabbed."

"Where?" Doc asked impatiently.  
  
"His back somewhere. How is he?"  
  
"He's in shock. We've got to move now."  
  
Faith heard noise then cursing.  
  
"I lost his pulse!" Doc shouted.  
  
"No, please...Bosco," Faith whispered.

 

  


 

  


 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Faith struggled against Kim's hold. She needed to get to Bosco.

"Faith, calm down." Kim gently put a hand on her chest. "Doc is taking care of him; don't move," Kim urged.  
  
Faith could hear Doc ripping Bosco's vest off. She also heard him talking to Bosco.  
  
"Bosco, don't even think about!" Doc shouted. "Sully, get over here I need you. Right here, start compressions."  
  
"Kim, go please go help him," she pleaded with her.  
  
"Doc? Need help?" Kim shouted at him.  
  
"Yes!"  
  
Kim grabbed some gauze quickly from her bag and pressed it against Faith's shoulder. She grabbed Faith's other hand and pressed it against the gauze.  
  
"Hold that, Faith, hold it."  
  
Faith nodded as Kim jumped up and jogged across the room to Bosco and Doc.  
  
Faith strained her ears to hear what was going on. She tried to turn so she could see, but her body wouldn't respond to her commands. Then Sully appeared in her line of vision. He gently moved her hand away from the gauze and pressed down on it. He grasped her other hand and held it tightly.

Faith cried out at the sudden pressure and looked into Sully's eyes. She couldn't read them. He was mumbling assurances to her that she couldn't make out. Her ears were strained to hear what was going on across the room. She didn't care what he was saying; the most important thing to her was the sound of Doc and Kim's struggle to keep her partner alive.

"Charge to 100 jules!"  
  
The only sound in the room was the hum of the defibrillator, then the thump as it sent its shock through Bosco.  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"Charge 200!"  
  
Faith squeezed Sully's hand tightly. As she listened to the hum then the thump again, she prayed that Doc would get him back.

"Nothing!"  
  
"Again!"  
  
"Wait! Stop! I got it. Weak but its there!" Kim shouted.  
  
Sully looked down at her and grinned. Faith could feel a tear slide down the side of her face as she let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. He was alive. He wasn't going to leave her.  
  
Alex and Carlos were now in the room. Alex bent down next to Sully and smiled at Faith,” Faith, how you doing?"  
  
"My shoulder is killing me," she grunted.

Sully shifted out of Alex's way as she fastened a c-collar around Faith's neck. Then she lifted the bandage and looked at Faith's arm. She replaced the bandage and turned to Carlos. "Start a line. There's no exit wound so let's stabilize the arm and get ready to transport."  
  
Sully was still clutching Faith's hand, he gave it a squeeze. "You're going to be fine, Faith," he told her, and then he stood and stepped back to give Alex and Carlos room.  
  
Faith continued to strain her ears to listen to Doc and Kim's rapid words on the other side of the room.

Her body was starting to feel heavy. She heard Doc say something about too much blood. Who had too much blood? Wasn't it a good thing to have blood? Then she allowed the blackness to claim her.

 

* * *

 

 

Faith felt relaxed and warm. As she slowly became aware, she could hear faint sounds around her. There was an annoying beeping sound and the rustling of something to her left. Something was telling her that she needed to wake up. Was she late for work? What the hell was that beeping?  
  
She tried to swallow, but her throat was to dry. Slowly she opened her eyes and tried to focus on the unfamiliar ceiling above her. It was then that she realized there was a blurry figure standing over her.  
  
She blinked and Fred's face appeared clearly before her. He was smiling down at her.  
  
"Fred?" She tried to say. But the only thing that came out was 'fffffrrr.'  
  
"Hey, Faith. You need some water?"

He didn't wait for her to answer as he turned and fumbled with something beside her. Faith realized that she was in a hospital room. How did she get here?  
  
He then thrust a straw at her and helped her take a small sip of the cool water. It felt great to her sore throat.  
  
"What?" She tried again. At least it came out as a word this time.  
  
"The doctor said you're going to be fine."  
  
She nodded. Well that was good to know, wasn't it? Something was nagging at her. She felt like she was missing something. She started to ask Fred when another figure appeared over her. A young woman with short black hair was smiling down at her.  
  
"How are you Officer Yokas? I'm your doctor, my name is Amanda Porter."  
  
"Faith," she mumbled.

Dr. Porter nodded her head and glanced at something above Faith's head then returned her gaze to Faith. "Okay, Faith. You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"  
  
She tried to recall what had happened but she couldn't remember anything.  
  
Faith shook her head. Why couldn't she remember what had happened? It was starting to frighten her. But there was something else, something important. Why did she feel like she was dreading something?  
  
"That's okay." Dr. Porter patted her arm and continued. "You were shot. The bullet went in your upper right shoulder and lodged in your muscle there. We had to take you to surgery where we were able to extract the bullet just fine. It looks like you were pretty lucky; there was no nerve damage but you did loose a significant amount of blood. You also have two cracked ribs and a slight concussion. But overall everything looks pretty good."

She was about to thank the doctor when she heard Bosco's voice in her mind, "I'm your partner Faith; I'm not going to let him hurt you." She gasped as it all came flooding back to her. Seeing Hobbs pull the trigger and feeling the slam of the bullet. Then watching Bosco fall to the ground before her, and then she remembered Doc shouting that he lost the heartbeat.  
  
"Faith! Faith! Look at me."  
  
Faith blinked and looked up at concerned Doctor and a frightened Fred.  
  
"Where's Bosco?" she asked quietly.  
  
Dr. Porter looked confused and turned to Fred.  
  
"Her partner…"

"Oh, yes. Officer Boscorelli was in critical condition when the two of you were brought in. He was rushed into surgery. Would you like me to check on him?"  
  
"Yes, please," Faith pleaded with her.  
  
She smiled at Faith then asked. "Okay, I'll go find out how he's doing."  
  
When Dr. Porter left the room, Fred sat down on the side of her bed and took her hand. "Geez, Faith, you scared me."  
  
"I'm sorry. Fred, did you see Bosco? He's not dead. He can't be dead."  
  
Fred sighed and let go of her hand. He ran his hand through his hair and gave her an angry look. Why was he mad at her?  
  
"Faith, why is it you care more about your damn partner than me? Don't you love me, Faith?"

The words stunned her. What was he talking about? Why was he trying to confuse her? Of course she loved him; he was her husband, he was the father of her children. They had been through so much together. They had fought hard to keep their family together.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Bosco. You will do anything for that guy. Why? Is there something you're not telling me?"  
  
Now he was really confusing her. Bosco was her partner, her friend; she loved Bosco. He was there for her. Bosco didn't let her down.  
  
"Fred, what do you want me to say? I don't understand. Bosco's my partner. You can't understand," she whispered.

"Make me understand, Faith." He was standing over her with his jaw tightly clenched. His eyes were hard.  
  
She sighed. "You can't, Fred. You don't have my job. You can't understand what it's like to have someone that you depend on for your life and have him depend on you for his. We only had each other in there, Fred. I had to kill someone for him."  
  
She stopped suddenly as that memory came rushing back to her. She was crying now. Tears were running down her face. She wasn't sure when they had started to fall, but she couldn't get them to stop. Fred looked away. How could he understand what she had gone through today? He just couldn't.

"Don't you get it? There is a part of my world that you will never understand. Bosco is part of that world and you have no right accusing me of something just because you don't understand."  
  
Fred turned back to look at her. He had a pained look on his face he took her hand again. "I'm sorry, Faith; I just don't want to be left out."  
  
Faith sniffed. "No one is leaving you out, Fred. You're the one that is making my partner an issue," she told him firmly.  
  
Fred opened his mouth to say something else when Dr. Porter stepped in the room. She paused and looked from Faith to Fred. She looked like she was going to turn and leave when Fred motioned for her to come over.  
  
"How is he?" Fred asked, then turned back to Faith and smiled at her. Faith smiled back then looked at the Doctor.

 

* * *

 

 

Dr. Porter pulled a spiral notebook from her coat pocket and opened it.  
  
"Maurice is in the ICU. I located his mother in the waiting room and she told me I could give you any information I found out. He came into the ER with a concussion and was in shock from severe blood loss The ER staff located a knife wound to the lower back. He went into emergency surgery as soon as they were able to stabilize him. The knife lacerated his spleen, but the Surgeon was able to repair the damage without having to remove it. The paramedics said he arrested once on scene. He also coded in surgery but they were able to bring him back." She paused and looked up at Faith, "He must be stubborn."  
  
Faith chuckled. "You have no idea."  
  
"He's in ICU now. He's not out of danger yet, but it's a good sign that he has made it this far. It's amazing with the amount of blood he has lost. The next few hours will tell us more, "Dr. Porter said as she closed the notebook and slid it back into her coat.  
  
"Can I see him?" Faith pleaded.

Dr. Porter studied her for a minute then sighed. "Not now, he's not conscious anyway."  
  
Faith opened her mouth to object but Dr. Porter raised her hand to stop her. "Faith, let's make a deal. You have just been through a very traumatic experience. Your body needs time to rest. I'm going to give you something to sleep and when you wake up I'll speak to his doctor and see what I can arrange."

Faith started to argue but then she looked from the doctor to Fred. Both looked like there was going to be no arguing about this. She nodded, accepting that agreeing to the deal was the quickest way she was going to be able to see her partner.  
  
Dr. Porter smiled, and pulled out a needle from the other coat pocket. She stepped close to Faith's bed and injected the needle into the IV tubing hanging near Faith's head.  
  
"How did you know I was going to agree to the deal?" Faith asked.  
  
Dr. Porter laughed. "Just call it a hunch. You should get sleepy right away. I'll fix everything with his doctor so don't worry."  
  
Faith felt the familiar warm feeling from earlier start to work its way through her body. Fred reached down and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and then bent down and kissed her.

Her last thought was a prayer that Bosco would continue to be his stubborn self and hold on until she was able to get to him.

 

* * *

 

 

The next time she woke up it was darker in the room. She could see dark shadows on the ceiling over her.  
  
She wondered what time it was, or even what day.  
  
Faith swallowed and licked her dry lips.  
  
"Hey, want some water?"  
  
She recognized Sully's voice but was confused as why she was hearing it.  
  
"Yeah," she managed to whisper.  
  
Sully appeared over her with the cup and straw that Fred had offered her earlier. She took two swallows of the water and nodded that she was done. He took the cup away and set it down on the table.

"Fred went home with the kids for a while. They'd been here most of the day with a bunch of cops, so they were kind of wired with junk food," he told her with a smile.  
  
"You've been here all night?"  
  
"Most of it, Ty and I left this morning and I came back after my shift was over. Today was my day off."  
  
He shrugged as he told her matter-of-factly.

Faith thought that was sweet of him, but Sully looked a little embarrassed, so she didn't say anything else about it.  
  
"You missed the Lieutenant. You also slept through the Mayor; he came with the Captain."  
  
"The mayor was here?" she asked, surprised.  
  
"Yeah, ugh I guess it's an election year so he came by to check on the two wounded heroes. The press heard about it and was hanging around downstairs in the lobby before we made them leave. I hope they got my good side for the news."  
  
Sully paused for a second then grinned.  
  
Faith moaned.

"Doctor Porter said that if you wanted, I could take you to see Bosco when you felt ready." Sully nodded and smiled at her. "I don't suppose…"  
  
She grinned back at him. "I'm ready, are you kidding?" Then she was suddenly frightened of what was waiting for her. "How does he look?"  
  
Sully pulled a wheelchair up next to her bed. "Better than he did", was all he said as he grabbed her robe and helped her put it on. Then he helped her get into the wheelchair.  
  
Faith felt light-headed but she wasn't sure if it was from the pain that was throbbing in her head or from the knot of fear in her belly.

 

* * *

 

 

Bosco's room was one floor up and Sully and Faith said nothing to each other as they made their way to it. Bosco was in the ICU. He really didn't have a room; it was just a small space crammed with equipment with the bed in the center surrounded by curtains on all sides.  
  
Sully stopped at the edge of the curtain and let Faith get her first look at her partner. At first she thought there was some mistake; Sully had taken her to the wrong room. The man in the bed looked incredibly pale and he looked too small to be Bosco. She gasped slightly as she realized it really was him. Her full-of-life partner was reduced to a very still form lying in the bed before her. Sully put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"  
  
Faith nodded, but didn't trust herself to say speak. Sully pushed her further into the room. He parked the wheelchair next to the left side of Bosco's bed and then patted her on the shoulder.  
  
"I'll be outside," he whispered then walked out.

Faith studied Bosco's face for a second. He had a bandage wrapped around the left side of his head and face where Hobbs had struck him. Her gaze fell to his chest and then down towards his stomach. She could see bandages under the thin hospital gown. They were wrapped around his lower chest and continued lower down his body until they disappeared under the blanket that was pulled up to just above his waist. Wires and tubes snaked out from every possible place and lead to various machines around the bed.  
  
Faith forced herself to turn away from the machines and look at Bosco. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful and very pale. He was too still. Faith couldn't remember a time when she had ever seen her partner so still. She reached up with her left hand and took his hand in hers.  
  
What if he didn't make it? Would she be able to go to work every day knowing that the job had killed her best friend? That thought surprised her, but she didn't know why it should; he was her best friend, after all, and she needed him. She knew that he needed her, too.

Faith lowered her face until she felt his hand under her cheek. She laid there feeling his hand pressed into her cheek and tears began to flow down her face. Everything that had happened came flooding back to her all over again and she couldn't stop it. At some point she fell asleep clutching his hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Faith jerked herself awake. Something had startled her but she couldn't figure out what. She realized that she was still in Bosco's room, but she didn't know what had woken her up.

Then she felt his hand move under her cheek.  
  
Faith's shoulder protested but she raised her head up and was surprised to be looking into her partner's eyes. They were cloudy from the pain he was in, but that didn't matter to her. They were open and they were looking at her that was all that mattered.

"Bosco?"  
  
"Faith," he whispered back.  
  
She grinned at him.  
  
He glanced at her shoulder and looked confused.  
  
"Bosco, you were stabbed. Do you remember?"  
  
Bosco shook his head then groaned. "My back..."  
  
"Yeah, partner. It's okay. I'm going to get someone to help you."  
  
Faith reached up to push the call button near the head of the bed.  
  
Bosco weakly grabbed at her hand. "Don't leave...," he said as he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

"I'm not going anywhere, Boz, don't worry. You can't get rid of me that easy."  
  
She thought she saw him smile but it was probably her imagination.  
  
Faith stayed until Bosco's doctor arrived and sent for a nurse. He told her that Bosco would be fine and that she needed her rest. The nurse arrived and Faith reached up and touched Bosco's chest, felt the reassuring rise and fall for a moment then let the nurse take her back to her room to get some sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

THREE DAYS LATER  


Bosco had been moved into a regular room. Faith sat in the chair beside him with her arm in a sling and trying to read the paper while Bosco went on about the stupidity of newscaster on TV.  
  
She had been released that morning but had refused to go home before she visited Bosco. Therefore, Fred had told her to stay until he got off work and then he would pick her up.  
  
Bosco still didn't recall every thing that had happened in that apartment. He remembered her getting shot but pretty much everything after that was blank. The doctor couldn't tell him when or if he would ever be able to remember what happened.  
  
The night before at his insistence, Faith had told him everything that had gone on. He had remained quiet through the story, which had really surprised Faith. When she was finished he just nodded and didn't say anything to her. She had realized that he needed time to process how close they had both come to dying.  
  
"Hey, Faith, look."

Faith glanced up at Bosco as he tipped his chin toward the TV on the wall. Faith craned her head to see the newscaster. Behind his head was a picture of her.  
  
"I hate that picture, where did they get that one?" she groaned.  
  
Bosco snickered and then shushed her.  
  
"Police officials have just announced that Police Officer Faith Yokas was released from the hospital earlier today. Officer Yokas was one of the two officers that were involved in a hostage situation four days ago."

The picture behind his head disappeared and one of Bosco replaced it.  
  
Faith giggled. "Jeez, Boz I thought mine was bad."  
  
"Ha Ha."  
  
"The other officer injured in the incident, Officer Maurice Boscorelli, is in stable condition. The injuries to the two police officers occurred when they went to serve a warrant for probation violations to an Ethan Hobbs."  
  
Hobbs' picture replaced Bosco's.  
  
"Ethan Hobbs was shot and killed at the scene..."  
  
"Thank-you," Bosco said quietly.

Faith turned from the TV to look at Bosco. He was staring at a place on the blanket in front of him.  
  
"What?" Faith asked.  
  
Bosco turned to look at her. "You saved my life Faith." He paused, then took a deep shuddering breath.  
  
"I don't know what…"  
  
Faith stood and placed her hand on his lips to stop his next words. His eyes searched hers. She could see unshed tears in his eyes just as she could feel them in hers. Something passed between them, something that words could not convey.  
  
"You saved mine first," she told him. Then she bent down and gave him a kiss on his forehead. She felt him smile under her hand.

Faith heard the door behind her open and turned to see Fred standing in the doorway. "You ready to go Faith? How you feeling, Bosco?" he asked.  
  
Faith turned back to look at her partner and removed her hand.  
  
He blinked his eyes a couple of times and then nodded to Fred, "Fine."  
  
Faith patted him on the shoulder then turned to leave with Fred.  
  
"Tell the kids hi for me."  
  
She glanced back over her shoulder at him and chuckled. "Sure, maybe I'll bring them in tomorrow. They love the candy machines in this place."  
  
Faith followed Fred out of the room. As she was leaving, she heard Bosco say, "Bye, Partner."

 

The End

 


End file.
